Chapter 5- Meaningless Vows

ELIAS

It took a lot of convincing for me to agree to this contract marriage that dad had put forward. I knew it was more of a business deal than anything else and all I had to do was pretend that was I husband material for a year.

Mum took it worst than me and I guessed that was probably because she didn’t want any random woman coming into our family, the family she had sacrificed a lot for over the years.

From the beginning I made it very clear to dad that I was going to continue living my life the way I wanted, and that no woman was going to change that in any way.

Dad said I could do whatever I want, but on one condition that I returned home every night, and shared the bed with her, no matter what happened.

It was a strange request, but I didn’t question him, as after all he was going to give me something that I had always wanted.

The wedding day arrived pretty fast, and I quickly got ready. It was going to be a small ceremony with a few close family members and the priest who would say some meaningless vows and then carry on with his day.

I chose the first casual tuxedo I saw in my wardrobe and quickly put it on before I put on some shoes and finished off with some perfume.

It was clear I hadn’t made any effort in the way I looked, but I couldn’t care less as I just wanted the wedding to be over with so I could go back to doing what I enjoyed.

The drive to the church took less than forty minutes and apart from dad no one else from my family bothered to accompany me, and that alone explained a lot.

I stepped out of my car and quickly walked up the few steps that lead into the church.

“Good afternoon, we meet again” dad said to the white man who I assumed was the girls dad Jonathan.

They both shook their hands with each other before they turned all of their attention on me,

“You must be Elias, good to meet you” Jonathan said before he also offered me a handshake and looked me up and down, almost like I wasn’t good enough for his precious daughter.  

I gave him a small nod, but refused to shake his hand, as we were enemies, not friends.

“Jonathan” I said quietly but respectfully. Dad didn’t miss the fact that I hadn’t put my hand forward,

“Your soon to be father-in-law” he added with a small smile that looked more force than anything else.

It wasn’t long before everyone took their seats, and I made my way up to the altar with the priest who looked just as bored as me, if not more, as we both patiently waited for her royal highness to make her grand entrance.

I didn’t quite understand why her entire family was there, sitting right at the front. Unlike me they were dressed the part and seemed somewhat happy.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get more realistic, nice soft music started playing and everyone turned their attention towards the large wooden door that lead into the church as my soon to be wife appeared, wearing a stunning long gown.

She did not look anything like how I had imagined her to look and to say I was impressed was an understatement.

It was only when she walked further down the aisle and closer to the altar, I recognised her and those big brown eyes of hers that had caught my attention the other night at the club.

I watched her brother escort her down and help her up onto the altar before he gave me a small nod and stepped aside.

“Why the hell is she dressed like it’s her actual wedding?” I thought to myself as I looked at the young woman standing there in front of me.

She was wearing a beautiful wedding gown, that nicely scattered around her and even had a trail.

Our eyes met for a moment before I looked away first, not wanting her to think that I was checking her out when that wasn’t the case, she was just an ordinary woman, who held no importance to me.

The priest started the ceremony, and I couldn’t wait for him to finish, not knowing this was just the beginning.

“I will now say the vows and would like you to repeat after me” he said to the woman standing in front of me.

She gave him a small nod before she repeated after him, her voice soft yet brisk with a strong touch of British accent, that matched her alluring face perfectly.

“I Kendra Knight take you Elias Richardson to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worst, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, from this day forward, until death do us apart” she said nice and clearly as she looked up at me emotionlessly.

The priest waited for her to finish before he turned all of his attention to me,

“And do you Elias Richardson take Kendra Knight to be your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worst, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish, from this day forward, until death do you part?” he asked loudly.

I looked at dad once before I looked at the priest, wondering what would happen if I didn’t agree to the vows completely.

“I wouldn’t say until death does us apart but for now yes” I said, giving everyone a momentarily fright, especially Kendra’s dad who had turned slightly pale after hearing what I had said.

The priest let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and looked at me with a small frown on his frail looking face,

“You may now kiss the bride” he said before he took a step back from where he was standing and helped himself to some water to calm his nerves.

I couldn’t help but smirk,

“You alright there?” I asked him before I turned all of my attention on Kendra who looked equally displeased as the priest.

I glanced at her soft looking lips thinking as appealing as they looked, I didn’t want to kiss her against her will.

“Don’t even think about it” she said quietly the moment I moved closer to her and placed a hand on the side of her face, liking the feel of her soft smooth skin against my hand.

Instead of kissing her on the lips, I kissed her on the corner of her mouth softly and with my hand on the side of her face, no one realised what had happened.

They all assumed I kissed her on the lips and started clapping loudly.

“Aren’t you a little too over dressed for a contract marriage?” I asked her quietly, as I took a step back from her and admired her from afar, thinking she even smelt good.

“Well, this may possibly be my first and last marriage, so I wanted to look my best” Kendra said before she turned around and walked of the altar effortlessly, her sexy bare back catching my attention.

She had the most creamiest skin I had ever seen and an ass that was the perfect size for her body, neither too big nor too small, with just the right amount of meat on it.

I forced my eyes away from her behind and shook my hand with all those who walked up to me and congratulated me, wondering why the heck they were even there, considering this was just a business deal and not an actual marriage.

“Congratulations son, you did it” dad said after he shook my hand and gave me a hard pat on the back, something he always did when he was proud of me, which wasn’t often.

I gave him a small nod and looked over at him,

“If my work here is done, I should get going” I said before I glanced at my watch. Dad looked at me and shook his head,

“Not yet son, you can leave after dinner” he said before he shook his hand with a few of his close friends and Jonathan.

Johnathan held out his hand to me and this time I had no choice but to take it, since I had just married his daughter.

“Welcome to the family, I’m sure you’ll take good care of Kendra” he said before he took a step back.

Speaking of his daughter she was no where to be seen. I stepped off the altar and pulled up the collars of my smart tuxedo before I walked out of the church.

I didn’t have to look around for her for long before I spotted her a little distance in the courtyard of the church. She had one hand on her hip and was looking over her shoulder, almost like she was posing for a photoshoot.

It wasn’t until I saw the two wedding photographers crowd around her, I realised what was happening.

“Ah you must be the groom, come stand next to your bride” one of them called out to me, just as dad, Jonathan and the rest of his friends walked out of the church.

I slipped a hand into my pocket and looked over at the photographer with a serious look on my face,

“I’m good” I said before I looked at Kendra who looked breath taking. I hated seeing her happy and wondered why the heck she had agreed to this marriage so easily.

It was her next words that really caught me off guard,

“One picture won’t kill you dear husband” she said with a small frown on her face before she turned and smiled at the photographers, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes but made her look happy enough.